NFL notebook: QB McCown to start for Jets

New York Jets quarterback Josh McCown will start on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, coach Todd Bowles said Thursday.

It will be the first start of the season for the 16-year veteran. McCown, 39, started 13 games for the Jets last season.

Starter Sam Darnold sustained a right foot injury last week in a loss to the Miami Dolphins that has limited him in practice. Bowles said, however, that Darnold could dress and back up McCown.

Darnold will regain the starting role once he is healthy, Bowles said.

--Dez Bryant participated in his first practice as a member of the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, and he was adamant about one thing.

He says he has nothing to prove after the way his stint with the Dallas Cowboys ended.

"Not at all, not at all. That chapter's closed, that's something I had to accept. I accepted that and moved on," Bryant told reporters. "I'm here with the New Orleans Saints. I'm a (member of the) Saints now, I'm excited about that and I'm looking forward to moving on with these guys."

--The Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts has started a review of a state legal principle that wiped out the murder conviction of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez after his suicide. Hernandez was convicted on April 15, 2015, of the 2013 death of semipro football player Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough, Mass.

The justices heard arguments from prosecutors as to why convictions shouldn't be erased if those found guilty die before an appellate court has reviewed facts of the trial. The Supreme Judicial Court is expected to take several months to issue a decision.

--The Los Angeles Rams expressed condolences over the mass shooting that killed 12 people at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Wednesday night.

Rams coach Sean McVay said Thursday that a moment of silence would be held prior to Sunday's home game against the Seattle Seahawks.

--Wally Triplett, a Detroit Lions running back who was the first African-American to be drafted and play in the NFL in a regular-season game, has died at 92.

"Wally is one of the true trailblazers in American sports history," the Lions said in a news release announcing his death. "He resides among the great men who helped reshape the game as they faced the challenges of segregation and discrimination."

As a rookie, Triplett set a team record at the time for the longest run from scrimmage with an 80-yard touchdown at Green Bay on Oct. 30, 1949. A year later, he set a league single-game record with 294 yards on four kickoff returns, including a 97-yard touchdown. The record for his total yardage that day lasted for 44 years and is still No. 3 in NFL history. His kickoff return average of 73.5 yards that day remains an NFL single-game record.

--Eagles running back Darren Sproles, set to return from a hamstring injury for the first time since Week 1, was sidelined during practice by another hamstring injury.

Philadelphia expected Sproles back in the lineup, primarily as a kick returner, for Sunday's game against the Cowboys. Sproles has been idle since injuring his hamstring in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.